Category: Australia and Pacific

Tennis superstar Roger Federer has won his 20th Grand Slam Title and his 6th Australian Open trophy. In a dramatic match, the Swissman beat Croatian Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6 and 6-1. The match went on for over 3 hours with both players being exhausted at the end. It was one of the hottest tournaments ever played on the ATP tour. In some of the matches temperatures reached 40° C (104 ° F).

Federer is the first to win 20 Grand Slam titles. He has won three out of the last 5 Grand Slams. At 36 Federer became thesecondoldest man towin agrand slam title after KenRosewall who won the Australian Open in 1972. In addition, he has become the oldest player ever to climb to the top of the ATP rankings.

The sympathetic Swiss player had the majority of supporters on his side at Melbourne Park. Red and white flags dominated the arena. In a game that went back andforth, Federer’s experience was decisivein winning the final set.

After dominating men’s tennis for a decade, the Swissman’s intermediatedownfall started in 2013 when he lost in the second round at Wimbledon and failed to reach the quarter-finals in the following three Grand Slam events. After suffering from a series of back injuries between 2013 and 2016 Federer made an amazing comeback last year.

Tennis is a sport in which injuries take their toll during the latter part of an athlete’s career. Federer rivals Raphael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, both in their 30s, are also coping with injury problems.

Roger Federer – Image: Tatiana

Words

ATP tour = worldwide series of tournaments for professional tennis players; they take place at the same time every year

back = back part of your body between the neck and legs

back and forth = here: both players took turns winning sets

beat = win against

comeback = here to win again after an unsuccessful time

cope with = deal with

decade = ten years

decisive = here: it is why he won

dominate = here: more than other flags

downfall = here: when you suddenly start losing matches

exhausted = very tired

experience = here: the skill and knowledge you have from winning many difficult matches

fail = did not

Grand Slam = the four most important tennis tournaments = Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open

in addition = also

injury = damage to a part of your body

intermediate = here: for a short time in between other phases

latter = last

majority = here: most of the people in the stadium

quarter-finals = the last eight players in a tournament

ranking = position on a list that shows how good you are compared to others

reach = get to

rival = person who you play against

suffer = to be in pain

supporter = person who cheers for you in an event

take their toll = to have a bad effect on something over a longer period of time

tournament = series of matches in which players play against each other until there is one winner

trophy = large object, like a cup or plate made out of silver or gold, that someone receives as a prize for winning a sports event

More than a hundred years after it had disappeared, Australia’s first submarine was finally discovered. The submarine, called AE-1 , went missing on September 14, 1914, with a crew of 35 on board. It was the first Allied submarine loss of the war.

After decades of searching, the missing Australian sub was found about 300 metresunderwater, off the coast of Papua New Guinea. It appears to be well-preserved and in one piece. Experts are now trying to examine the wreck and find out why the sub sank. They think it was probably an accident and not because of enemy fire.

The sub was on a mission to occupy German New Guinea, one of the German colonies in the Pacific.

In the past, there were 13 government – funded searches for the sub but, until now, none of them proved successful. When thesubmarinewasfound navyofficials held a commemorative service for the crew that the Australian navy had lost. Families were contacted and told that the oldest naval mystery in Australian history had finally been solved.

Missing Australian submarine AE-1

Words

Allied = group of countries that fought together in the first and second World Wars

appear = seems to be

coast = where land meets the sea

colony = area that is under control by a government that is far away

commemorative service = event that shows you remember and respect something important that happened a long time ago

crew = all the people who worked on the sub

decade = ten years

disappear = here: to get lost

discover = here : find

enemy fire = attack by the enemy

examine = look at something closely in order to find out more about it

government – funded = paid for by the state

in one piece = not broken

loss = not having something anymore

mission = important job, done by the army, air force or navy

naval = about the navy

navy = part of a country’s military that fights at sea

occupy = to enter a place with an army and keep control of it

official = here: a person in a high position in an organisation

prove successful = if something you try to do really works the way you want it to

The world’s largest battery has gone into operation in Australia. American technology giant Tesla built the 100-megawattlithium-ionbattery for South Australia’s state government.

The battery was connected to the power grid only 2 months after Tesla and the Southern Australian government signed a contract. Tesla boss Elon Musk said that he could deliver the battery and make it operational within one hundred days. Tesla made the deadline easily.

According to the company, the battery can provide electricity for over 30,000 homes for an hour in case of an electricity blackout. It is also intended to help supply more energy during peak times.

The battery packs, about the size of a football field, are connected to a nearby wind farm, 120 kilometres north of Adelaide. They went into operation at the beginning of the Australian summer, when more energy is needed for air conditioning.

While many regions in Australia still rely on fossil fuels as their main energy source, South Australia gets a lot of its energy from renewable sources, especiallysolar and wind power. However, backup energy is important for a region that has recentlyexperiencedsevere storms. The entire state witnessed a blackout in September 2016. 1.6 million people were left without electricity.

Tesla battery chargers in Adelaide Australia – Image: Timeshift9

Words

according to = as said by …

air conditioning = system that makes the air in a room cooler and drier

battery pack = several batteries connected to each other

blackout = when everything goes dark because there is no electricity

connect = link to

contract = official agreement between two parties

deadline = date or time by which you have to have something finished

deliver = to bring a product to a certain place

electricity = power that is carried in wires and cables and is used for heating, lighting and to make machines work

entire = whole

especially = above all

experience = see, witness

fossil fuels = energy that is produced by dead plants and animals over millions of years; for example coal, oil and gas

however = but

intend = here: designed to work as …

lithium-ion battery = very powerful battery that can be used over and over again; it is used in laptops, cellphones, iPods etc..

The remains of Australia’s oldest aboriginal man, who died about 42,000 years ago, has been returned to his originalburial ground in New South Wales. For years, he had been at a university in Canberra for study purposes.

The skeleton was discovered in 1974 in a dry salt lake in Mungo National Park about 800 km west of Sydney. The remains were taken to the University of Canberra to be studied. At the time, the Aborigines protested heavily against removing the remains from their original burial grounds.They have been fighting for decades to bring the skeleton, known as Mungo Man, back home.

Mungo Man was probably a hunter-gatherer, who died at the age of 50. Scientists think that the man probably suffered from arthritis. He was found lying on his back with his hands crossed in his lap. His limbs were stretched out and his body was covered with red ochre, which came from some 200 km away.

Aborigines celebrated the return of the remains in a traditional ceremony with green gum leaves burned over a small fire. In an officialstatement, the university apologized for the pain they have caused by not letting the ancient human rest in peace.

Satellite image of Lake Mungo, where the remains were discovered.

Words

aboriginal = connected to someone who has lived in a place or country from the earliest times

Aborigines = someone who belongs to the race of people who have lived in Australia from the earliest times

apologize = to say you are sorry about something

arthritis = disease that causes bones and flexible parts of your body to become painful and swollen

burial ground = place where a person is laid to rest after they have died

cause = create

celebrate = to show that an event is important by doing something special

ceremony = important social or religious event

decade = ten years

discover = to find for the first time

gum leaves = leaves from a gum tree; they produce a strong smelling oil that is used in medicine

heavily = very much; strongly

hunter-gatherer = person who lived by hunting animals and looking for plants that could be eaten

lap = the upper part of your legs when you are sitting down

limbs = arms and legs

ochre = red-yellowish earth

official statement = here: the university announced something in public

original = here: for the first time

remains = the body or skeleton of someone who has died

remove = bring away from the original place

scientist = person who is trained in science and works in a lab

skeleton = structure of all the bones in the human body

study purposes = when something is looked at or examined closely by scientists and experts

Authorities at Uluru National Park have announced that tourists will no longer be allowed to climb up to the top of Australia’s most famous landmark. The ban will take effect at the beginning of 2019. Officials say that Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is not an entertainment park, like Disneyland.

About 250 000 people visit the large red monolith in central Australia every year. However, only about 16% want to climb the rock.

Although Australia’s government wants to keep the site open for hikers to climb, the decision was made out of respect to the native Australians who consider Uluru as a sacred place. In 1985 the government returned it back to the aboriginalpeople of the region. For a long time , local residents have asked visitors not to climb the rock out of respect.

National park authorities are worried that hiking to the top of 1,100 ft high rock will damage the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tour operators are now in search of other ways to show the monolith to its visitors, including camel rides around it.

Uluru National Park is open all year round, but climbing is only allowed on certain days because of strong winds and other weather conditions. Climbing the rock is not always safe. In the last 70 years , 35 people have died in climbing accidents.

Not all locals, however, are in favour of the ban. Some say that hiking should only be allowed with a guide and on special pathways.

Uluru – Image: Thomas Schoch

Words

Aboriginal people = people who have lived in Australia from the earliest times on

although = while

announce = to say officially

authorities = an official organisation that controls or is in charge of something

ban = order that stops something from being done

consider = think that…; look at something as …

damage = cause harm to something

entertainment park = area where you can go to in order to have fun, ride on roller coasters etc..

government = the people who rule a country

guide = person who shows you around a place

hiker = someone who walks long distances in the mountains

in favour of = to be for something

including = also

landmark = something that is easy to see , even from far away

local = a person who lives in the area

monolith = a large tall block of stone

native Australians = the people who have been in Australia before Europeans came

official = a person in an organisation who is in charge of something

pathway = track that is made for walking

resident = a person who lives in a place

sacred = holy , religious

take effect = put into effect, become a law

UNESCO World Heritage Site = place that has been selected by the United Nations because it is very valuable ; it should be protected by all countries

The last car , a General Motors Holden, has come off the production line in Adelaide, Australia. It ends a 90-year long era of car manufacturing in Australia. At its peak, the Adelaide factory built almost 800 cars a day .

GM Holden is a subsidiary of GM . The closure of Australia’s last car factory will not only leave almost a thousand workers without a job, but also endanger industries that produce parts for Australian-made cars.

Holden has been an Australian national symbol for many decades. The company, which started out as a family business in the mid 19th century, was bought by General Motors in 1931. In 1948 the FX Holden became the first car to be mass-produced in Australia. By 1960, every second car manufactured in Australia was a Holden. The company’s most popular car was the Commodore, which was introduced in 1978.

Since World War II a number of foreign auto manufacturers, including Toyota, Mitsubishi have opened and closed car production plants in Australia. Ford shut down its last plant a year ago.

There are many reasons behind the decline of Australia’s car industry. Through free trade agreements automobile makers no longer have benefits when producing in Australia. Other reasons are high wages and production costs as well as a small domestic market of 24 million.

As the Australian dollar became stronger the country’s exports became more expensive. Holden cars became less competitive , while imported foreign cars were cheaper . Since 2001 Australia’s government has been pouring in $ 5.5 billion into the car industry.

Even though Australia’s car industry has come to an end , the GM Holden will still be available from other manufacturing plants around the world.

GM Holden Caprice, produced in 2007

Words

agreement = when people, companies or countries promise to do something

available = it can be bought

benefit = advantage, help you do or get something

century = a hundred years

competitive = to be more successful than others

closure = to be closed

decade = ten years

decline = when something becomes less important

domestic = home

foreign = from another country

endanger = to put something in danger

era = period of time

foreign = from another country

manufacture = produce, make

mass-produce = to make something in large numbers so that it can be sold cheaply

peak = when it was most successful

plant = factory

pour = here: give

production line = products move along a line of workers who make or check each part

Easter Island , or Rapa Nui as the natives call themselves , belongs to the remotest places on earth. The Chilean island, famous for its carved statues, is located in the middle of the southern Pacific Ocean.

For decades, scientists have been wondering how the natives got to the island before the first Europeans came in 1722. Most experts think that the first settlers came to Easter Island at around 1200 A.D. , probably on small boats crisscrossing the Pacific Ocean.

Other anthropologists have been trying to find out if the natives have any connections to early South Americans, three thousand kilometres away. Latest research now claims that the Easter Islanders were, in fact, more isolated than previously thought.

Scientists have been examining the skeletons and bones of five people that go back hundreds of years. However, they have found no evidence that suggests they have might have ancestors in South America.

The first theory of South American ancestry came up when Thor Heyerdahl saw sweet potatoes when he arrived there in the 1950s. He also found people using fishing tools that South Americans also used. Scientists at that time thought the people of the Easter Islands may have sailed to South America and back again some time before the Europeans came.

Famous statues on Easter Island – Image: Horacio_Fernandez

Words

ancestor = a member of your family who lived a long time ago

anthropologist = a person who studies people , their cultures and where they come from

carved = to cut an object with a knife

claim = to say that something is true even if you cannot prove it

Chilean = from Chile

crisscross = to travel many times back and forth without a certain pattern ; zigzag

decade = ten years

evidence = facts that clearly show that something is true or exists

examine = to look very closely at an object

however = but

isolated = here: to be alone and far away from others

located = can be found

native = a person who was born in a country or place

previously = earlier

remote = very far away from civilisation

research = the study of a subject in order to find out new facts

sail = the wind brings you somewhere on a boat

scientist = a person who is trained in science and works in a lab

settler = a person who goes to live in a place where not many people have lived before

The 2011 tsunami , which led to the nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, has swept thousands of sea creatures across the Pacific Ocean to the US coast. In the past 6 years scientists have found mussels, starfish, crabs and other marine animals washed up on the American Pacific coast. Marine biologists expect that there are even more species to arrive in the future.

The giant waves caused by the tsunami in Japan were almost 40 metres tall and washed objects into the open sea. In 2012, scientists found debris together with living creatures on them near the Alaskan coast as well as in Hawaii. They were sea animals that have never before been seen there.

Scientists are surprised that marine species have been able to survive over such a long period in such bad conditions. However, most species travelled on plastic or glass objects, things that do not decompose and stay the same for many years. On the other hand, animals that travelled on wooden objects did not make the long journey across the Pacific, because wood lasts only for a short time.

Because the debris moved slowly across the ocean the animals had time to get used to their new surroundings as they travelled the 4,000 mile journey across the Pacific.

With so much plastic and other garbage swimming in the world’s oceans, the danger of marine animals being washed up on foreign coasts has never been greater.

Experts are not sure what effect these new species may have on the local environment. Such invasive species may change the ecosystem of the area they arrive at. They might transport new diseases or kill off existing species . In any case, it will take a decade or more to see the results.

Starfish found off the Pacific coast

Words

crab= sea animal with a hard shell , five legs on each side and two large claws

creature = animal; living thing

debris = garbage, waste

decade = ten years

decompose = to break down into many smaller parts

disease = illness

ecosystem = the animals and plants in a certain area and they way they live together

effect = result ; change caused by an event

foreign = another country

garbage = waste; things people throw away

however = but

invasive species = plant or animal that does not grow naturally in an area but has come there from somewhere else

journey = trip

local environment = the world around the place that you live in

marine species = animals and plants that live in the ocean

mussel = small sea animal with a soft body that can be eaten and a black shell that is split into two parts